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Hawaii's Turtle Bay Resort lives up to name

The Palmer Course, which looks even better in person than it does on high-def TV, is one of the attractions that put Hawaii's Turtle Bay Resort on the map. The scenic golf course has hosted LPGA Tour and Champions Tour events and was also a filming location for Golf Channel's Big Break reality show.

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To truly understand why they call it Turtle Bay, you need to sign up for the kayak tour.

It's not easy to talk me out of a morning tee-time, especially with two top-notch golf courses within a couple of wedge shots of my room at this oceanside resort, but as the temperatures rise on a sunny day on Oahu's North Shore, I've traded my putter for a paddle and I'm sharing the water with a handful of other tourists and a dozen or so green sea turtles.

At this exact time one day earlier, I was on a flight from Calgary to Hawaii's capital of Honolulu, one busy city to another. Now, this crew of wide-eyed kayakers — just 'round the corner in secluded Kawela Bay, within walking distance of the resort — is literally outnumbered by endangered sea species.

That's part of the attraction at Turtle Bay Resort, a just-renovated escape that is only a one-hour drive from the airport in Honolulu but feels about a million miles away from the nearest traffic jam or even the nearest traffic light.

Rush hour at Turtle Bay is two glass-bottom kayaks drifting into one another as their distracted drivers scan the water for wildlife, which can also include monk seals and whales in the distance.

It's a brief wait on the fairway at the signature 17th hole of Turtle Bay's Palmer Course as the group ahead snaps a few extra photographs of the ocean — it is, after all, right there — before vacating the green.

It's guests re-arranging the furniture around the pool area in the late afternoon, ensuring they'll have an ideal angle for the colourful sunset.

“The ocean, even though it can be a little rough, it's just so therapeutic,” said Danna Holck, who was born and raised on Oahu and is now GM of Turtle Bay Resort.

“It's just such a relaxing, comfortable feeling. You get that not only from the environment, but from the people here, too.”

Turtle Bay may be marketed as a luxury resort, but if the recent renovation plans called for even a sprinkle of pretentious, the contractors forgot that part.

Every room at Turtle Bay — a mix of cottages, villas, suites and simple guest rooms — comes with a view of the Pacific Ocean. Thanks to the US$35-million renovation, they also have new beds and other furnishings and fully remodeled bathrooms.

There's also an incredible view from Turtle Bay's relocated fitness centre, with the Nalu Kinetic Spa nearly doubled in size to 11,000 square feet as part of the renos. Returning guests will also notice a couple of new shops, a new look for two of the seven dining options and more of the same charm that has been bringing guests to Oahu's North Shore for more than four decades.

“Everybody loves it here,” Holck said. “The hardest thing for them to do is to go home.”

From golfers to surfers, families to foodies, there's a little something for everybody at Turtle Bay.

The ultimate bucket-list book for the bogey brigade — Jeff Barr's 1,001 Golf Holes You Must Play Before You Die — includes No. 17 on the Palmer Course. Whether you remember the 452-yard assignment as a beauty or a beast probably hinges on how many of the nine sand-traps you have to rake before arriving at a putting surface that's so close to the Pacific Ocean you could probably throw your ball into the waves if you three-putt.

The Palmer Course, which is ranked by Golf Magazine as Oahu's top track, hosted the Champions Tour's Turtle Bay Championship from 2001-08 and served as site of the LPGA Tour's SBS Open at Turtle Bay from 2005-09. The list of tournament winners on this scenic stretch of turf includes Annika Sorenstam, Paula Creamer, Hale Irwin and Fred Funk.

Turtle Bay is also home to the Fazio Course, a resort-style course that doesn't pack as much visual appeal — or as much bite — as its sibling but has also hosted some of the biggest names in the game. In fact, before Palmer was enlisted to turn this into a 36-hole hangout, he joined Gary Player, Sam Snead and Chi Chi Rodriguez on the George Fazio-designed layout for the inaugural Champions Tour Skins Game.

“The thing I love about having both the Palmer Course and the Fazio Course is they're very different,” said Matt Hall, the director of golf at Turtle Bay. “We get asked a lot, 'What course should I play?' and the first response is 'You should play them both.' If the answer comes back, 'Well, I only have time to play one,' we definitely recommend the Palmer Course because it is a Top 100 course and it's a very unique experience, and we feel that it's a must-play when you come to Oahu.

“But if you have a chance to play two, we recommend starting on the Fazio Course and working your way over to the Palmer Course.”

No offence to Annika, Arnie or any of the other golf legends who have walked the fairways at Turtle Bay, but the biggest stars around these parts are big-wave surfers.

Turtle Bay Resort sits on a strip of shoreline known as the Seven-Mile Miracle, with upwards of 100 world-class surf breaks and swells reaching 50 feet in the wintertime. In fact, the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing is contested on Oahu's North Shore.

Surf school is available at Turtle Bay, although many guests prefer to watch the action from the shore or simply 'hang loose' in Surfer, The Bar, where you can enjoy a beer while watching big-wave footage on the big screen.

Other activities available at the resort include hiking, horseback riding, stand-up paddling and segway tours. There are also distinctly Hawaiian options such as hula and ukulele lessons.

“I believe that people, when they come to a place like this, they're looking for the adventure of culture, too, whether it's learning to paddle a canoe or to dance the hula or to pound koi or learn about our history,” Holck said. “Now that we've been through the renovation and we've made a lot of great changes physically, my next mission is to infuse a lot of the cultural exposures and opportunities for people to learn about Hawaii.”